England aim to open the Flood gates against Italy at Twickenham

England will send out an unchanged team to confront Italy at Twickenham on Saturday, with the aim of further dismantling an entrenched national stereotype by playing with adventurous swagger.

At lunchtime today, manager Martin Johnson will name the same starting XV as he deployed against Wales in last Friday's RBS Six Nations opener in Cardiff.

Toby Flood runs with the ball during the England training session

He will hope that his players can deliver an improved performance and the same successful outcome.

There is just one alteration to the matchday 22 from that dramatic encounter at the Millennium Stadium - Leeds flanker Hendre Fourie reclaims a place among the replacements at the expense of Joe Worsley.

The South African-born openside from Burgersdorp missed the last match as he was still recovering from a calf strain. But a 40-minute, try-scoring appearance for his club last weekend has convinced the England management that he is ready to be pitched back into the Test arena.

Having featured in all four of the autumn internationals at Twickenham, the 31-year-old nicknamed 'Shrek' will take his place on the bench once more as back-row cover - with the ability of both James Haskell and Tom Wood to switch positions allowing him his opportunity as a specialist No 7.

Worsley made a strong defensive impact as a second-half replacement against Wales, but he has returned to Wasps to gain some valuable match practice ahead of a break in the championship next weekend.

The 33-year-old flanker was one of 12 players released by England back to their clubs, the others being Nick Abendanon, George Chuter, Alex Corbisiero, Paul Doran-Jones, Phil Dowson, Riki Flutey, Charlie Hodgson, Joe Simpson, James Simpson-Daniel, George Skivington and David Strettle.

Hendre Fourie

While England have spent the last few days emphasising the negative elements of their Cardiff victory, there is a guarded sense of satisfaction at producing a rare away win at the start of their Six Nations campaign.

There is an understandable desire to tighten up on discipline and become more clinical, but the bulk of the starting team deserve the right to keep their places, none more so than Toby Flood.

It was fitting that the Leicester flyhalf 's break set up Chris Ashton's first try six days ago, as he has been at the heart of a revival of England's attacking game since returning to the side last March.

He has shown increasing authority as the team's conductor, to prove beyond any lingering doubt that he is not just borrowing the No 10 shirt from Jonny Wilkinson - as would have been the perception not so long ago. Since he was recalled for the 2010 championship finale in Paris, Flood has had a major hand in liberating England's wide-running game.

He has relished the opportunity to show that while the national team remain true to their age-old values, they are no longer content to be viewed around the world as a bruising, route-one side with a big pack, a goal-kicking fly-half and not much else.

'I like the stereotype, I've got no problem with that,' he said. 'If I get to kick to the corner then we drive over from 10 yards and I've done nothing, that's perfect! I understand that the stereotype is there.

That has been the history of English rugby and we want to adhere to that. We showed in Wales that when the game got tight, we had the ability to play that way.

'But it is nice to be able to really play and chuck the ball around a bit, because we have the ball-players who can do that. We are encouraging everyone to play and that is a good thing. It is nice to change the stereotype but it will take a long time to do it.'

England showed in Paris and in subsequent victor ies over Australia in Sydney and London, that they can effectively adopt a more daring approach, in defiance of global perceptions.

Flood added: 'We want to take teams on, challenge teams. We aren't just thinking, "If we kick long, we'll be all right, we could get six points ahead then turn the screw".

Martin Johnson

'Now, from the outset, we try to have a massive crack at teams, have a real go at them. We showed last Friday that we can drive the ball, too, but we want to play a fluid brand of rugby and it's nice for me to be involved in a team which is t r y ing t o play the game the way I like game and that could be the championship or a top-two finish gone.

'So I have learned a lot about pressure and the basic practicalities of playing No 10, in terms of making good decisions and making sure you do the majority of things right.

'I feel like my game has improved and Matt O'Connor (Leicester backs coach) has had a big impact on that in terms of allowing me to go and express myself.

'But at the same time Cockers (director of rugby Richard Cockerill) has had a big impact, too, because he is the one who says, "don't **** up!"

'That just shows your responsibility to the team and he means it in the nicest possible way!'